Current device location advertisement distribution

ABSTRACT

In embodiments of current device location advertisement distribution, a mobile network operator receives media content from a content service and can then communicate the media content to a client device via a wireless distribution point. A device location service determines that a current location of the client device is not within a geographic region associated with the client device, and updates the current location of the client device from location data that identifies the current location of the client device. The media content can then be updated for distribution to the client device along with advertisements that correspond to an advertising locale, which includes the current location of the client device.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/973,415 filed Dec. 20, 2010 entitled “CurrentDevice Location Advertisement Distribution”, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Television content delivered over an Internet connection is anincreasingly popular technology. In addition to short video clips andrecorded movies, live television can be distributed via the Internet,and television programming can be streamed to a portable device, such asmobile phone or computer device. However, there remains bandwidthlimitations to delivering live television and video content inreal-time, particularly through telco and mobile operator networks thatdistribute television content to client devices via wirelesscommunication.

Additionally, television content typically includes national and/orlocal advertisements. Local advertisements are generally distributedwithin a fixed geographic area, and are intended to reach potentialconsumers of goods and services within the designated, fixed geographicarea. However, portable devices may receive television content andadvertisements when moved through many different geographic advertisingareas, while local advertising to a device remains constrained to afixed geographic area.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce simplified concepts of currentdevice location advertisement distribution. The simplified concepts arefurther described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is notintended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter,nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimedsubject matter.

In embodiments of wireless distribution system proxy caches, a mobilenetwork operator receives requests for television content from clientdevices, and communicates one of the requests to a content service thatprovides the television content for distribution to the client devices.Proxy caches are implemented to cache content data of the televisioncontent prior to the cached content data of the television content beingwirelessly communicated to the client devices. The proxy caches arelocated at wireless distribution points of the mobile network operator,and the wireless distribution points communicate the cached content dataof the television content from the proxy caches to the client devices. Awireless distribution point emulates television multicast when thecached content data of the television content is communicated from aproxy cache to multiple client devices.

In embodiments of current device location advertisement distribution, amobile network operator receives television content from a contentservice and can then communicate the television content to a clientdevice via a wireless distribution point. A device location servicedetermines that a current location of the client device is not within ageographic region associated with the client device. The geographicregion that is associated with the client device may be based on aservice contract with a user of the client device, or a billing zip codeassociated with the user of the client device.

The device location service updates the current location of the clientdevice from location data that identifies the current location of theclient device. The location data can include GPS location data orregional position data that correlates to the current location of theclient device. The television content can then be updated fordistribution to the client device along with advertisements thatcorrespond to an advertising locale, which includes the current locationof the client device. The device location service can also update theadvertising locale for the client device as the client device is movedfrom one region to another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of wireless distribution system proxy caches and currentdevice location advertisement distribution are described with referenceto the following drawings. The same numbers are used throughout thedrawings to reference like features and components:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in which embodiments of wirelessdistribution system proxy caches and current device locationadvertisement distribution can be implemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example system in which embodiments ofcurrent device location advertisement distribution can be implemented.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example system with multiple devices for aseamless user experience in ubiquitous environments.

FIG. 4 illustrates example method(s) of wireless distribution systemproxy caches in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates example method(s) of current device locationadvertisement distribution in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates additional example method(s) of current devicelocation advertisement distribution in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates various components of an example device that canimplement embodiments of wireless distribution system proxy caches andcurrent device location advertisement distribution.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In embodiments, a mobile network operator controls distribution oftelevision content to various client devices via wireless distributionpoints. The mobile network operator receives requests for televisioncontent from client devices, and communicates one of the requests (asopposed to all of the requests) to a content service that provides thetelevision content for distribution to the client devices. The contentservice can also provide advertisements along with the televisioncontent for distribution to the client devices. Proxy caches are locatedat aggregation points and at the wireless distribution points of themobile network operator to cache content data of the television content,and/or to cache advertisements, prior to the cached content data beingwirelessly communicated to the client devices. A wireless distributionpoint emulates television multicast when the cached content data of thetelevision content is communicated from a proxy cache to multiple clientdevices.

The advertisements are generally directed to client devices that receivetelevision content within a designated region or geographic area, andare intended to reach potential consumers of goods and services withinthe designated local region or geographic area, referred to herein as anadvertising locale. However, if a client device is moved from oneadvertising locale to another, such as from one city to a city inanother state, the local advertisements that correspond to a geographicregion associated with the client device are likely not useful to a userof the device in the different advertising locale. A current location ofa client device can be determined from location data that identifies thecurrent location of the client device. The location data can include GPSlocation data or regional position data that correlates to the currentlocation of the client device. The television content can then beupdated for distribution to the client device along with targeted localadvertisements that correspond to the current location and/oradvertising locale of the client device.

While features and concepts of the described systems and methods forcurrent device location advertisement distribution can be implemented inany number of different environments, systems, devices, and/or variousconfigurations, embodiments of current device location advertisementdistribution are described in the context of the following exampledevices, systems, and configurations.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 in which various embodiments ofwireless distribution system proxy caches and current device locationadvertisement distribution can be implemented. The example system 100includes a mobile network operator 102, such as a cell-phone providerand/or Internet service provider that facilitates mobile data and/orvoice communications for any type of various client devices 104. Theclient devices include fixed and/or mobile devices that may besubscriber devices of the mobile network operator, and are configured toreceive television content via wireless communication. The examplesystem 100 also includes a content service 106 and/or other mediacontent sources that communicate or otherwise provide media content anddata to any number of the various client devices 104 via the mobilenetwork operator 102 and a communication network 108.

The various client devices 104 may be implemented with any number andcombination of differing components as further described with referenceto the example device shown in FIG. 7. In this example, a client device104 can be implemented as any one or combination of a television clientdevice 110, a computer device 112, a gaming system 114, an appliancedevice, an electronic device, and/or as any other type of device thatmay be implemented to receive media content in any form of audio, video,and/or image data.

The various client devices 104 can also include wireless devicesimplemented to receive and/or communicate wireless data, such as any oneor combination of a mobile phone 116 (e.g., cellular, VoIP, WiFi, etc.),a portable computer device 118, a media player device 120, and/or anyother wireless device that can receive media content in any form ofaudio, video, and/or image data. A client system can include arespective client device and display device 122 that together render orplayback any form of audio, video, and/or image media content and mediaassets. The display device can be implemented as any type of atelevision, high definition television (HDTV), LCD, or similar displaysystem.

Any of the services and devices can communicate via the communicationnetwork 108, which can be implemented to include a wired and/or awireless network that facilitates data communication. The communicationnetwork can also be implemented using any type of network topologyand/or communication protocol, and can be represented or otherwiseimplemented as a combination of two or more networks, to includeIP-based networks and/or the Internet. The communication network mayalso include mobile operator networks that are managed by the mobilenetwork operator 102 and/or other mobile operators, such as acommunication service provider, cell-phone provider, and/or Internetservice provider.

The content service 106 can include media content servers tocommunicate, or otherwise distribute, media content and/or other data tothe various client devices via the mobile network operator 102. In thisexample system 100, the content service includes storage media 124 tostore or otherwise maintain various media content and data, such asmedia assets 126 (e.g., also referred to as television content and/ormedia content) and associated content metadata 128. The storage mediacan be implemented as any type of memory and/or suitable electronic datastorage.

The media assets 126 can include any type of audio, video, and/or imagedata received from any type of media content source or data source. Asdescribed throughout, media assets are media content, and media assetscan include music (e.g., digital music files of songs), televisionprogramming, movies, on-demand media assets, interactive games,network-based applications, and any other audio, video, and/or imagedata (e.g., to include program guide data, user interface data,advertising content, closed captions data, content metadata, searchresults and/or recommendations, etc.). A media asset may also includevarious display formats of the media asset, such as a high-definitiondisplay format and lower quality display formats.

The content metadata 128 can include any type of identifying criteria,descriptive information, and/or attributes associated with the mediaassets 126 that describes and/or categorizes the media assets. Forexample, metadata can include a media asset identifier, title, subjectdescription, a date of production, artistic information, musiccompilations, and any other types of descriptive information about aparticular media asset. Further, metadata can characterize a genre thatdescribes a media asset, such as video content, as being anadvertisement, a movie, a comedy show, a sporting event, a news program,a sitcom, a talk show, an action/adventure program, or as any number ofother category descriptions.

In this example system 100, the mobile network operator 102 includes aproxy service 130 that can be implemented as computer-executableinstructions, such as a software application, and executed by one ormore processors to implement the various embodiments described herein.Alternatively or in addition, the proxy service may be implemented as anindependent service separate from the mobile network operator. Inembodiments, the proxy service is implemented to manage the televisioncontent distribution to the various client devices 104.

The proxy service 130 at the mobile network operator 102 receivesrequests for television content from one or more of the client devices104. The proxy service can then initiate the mobile network operator tocommunicate one of the requests from the client devices (as opposed toall of the requests) to the content service 106 that provides thetelevision content (e.g., the media assets 126) to the mobile networkoperator for distribution to the client devices. In an implementation,the first client device that requests the television content, such as atelevision program or movie, initiates content data being distributeddownstream from the content service, via the mobile network operator, toa proxy cache at a wireless distribution point.

The example system 100 includes wireless distribution points 132 of themobile network operator 102 via which the requested television contentcan be wirelessly communicated to the client devices 104. Proxy cachesare located at the wireless distribution points, such as proxy cache 134located at the wireless distribution point 136. The proxy cache may beimplemented as an HTTP proxy cache that caches content data 138 of therequested television content when received via the Internet. The mobilenetwork operator 102 can receive the content data of the requestedtelevision content from the content service 106 via the Internet (e.g.,via the communication network 108). The content data can be received asvideo fragments of the television content that are packetized for smoothstreaming at the content service.

The proxy caches at the wireless distribution points 132 cache thecontent data 138 of the television content prior to the cached contentdata being wirelessly communicated to the client devices 104. Inembodiments, the content data is cached at a proxy cache that is locatedat a wireless distribution point that has a wireless communication linkwith a client device that requested the television content. The wirelessdistribution points of the mobile network operator communicate thecached content data of the television content from the proxy caches tothe client devices. In this manner, a wireless distribution point canemulate television multicast when the cached content data of thetelevision content is communicated from a proxy cache to multiple clientdevices.

Similar to the proxy cache 134 located at the wireless distributionpoint 136, a server device 140 can be located at a wireless distributionpoint 142 of the mobile network operator 102. The server device includesa proxy cache 144 to cache content data of the requested televisioncontent, such as described with reference to the proxy cache 134. Inembodiments, the server device may optionally include a proxy service146, such as described with reference to the proxy service 130 at themobile network operator. The proxy service 146 can receive requests fortelevision content from one or more of the client devices 104, and thencommunicate one of the requests to the content service 106 that providesthe television content as content data for distribution to the clientdevices. The proxy cache 144 caches the content data of the televisioncontent at the wireless distribution point 142 prior to the cachedcontent data of the television content being wirelessly communicated tothe client devices.

In embodiments, the mobile network operator 102 and/or the server device140 first receives a request for the television content from one or moreof the client devices 104, and then caches the content data of therequested television content. Alternatively, content data for additionaltelevision content can be received from the content service 106 before arequest for the additional television content is received from a clientdevice. The proxy caches 134, 144 can then cache the content data priorto the additional television content being requested and wirelesslycommunicated to the client devices.

In this example system 100, the content service 106 also includes anadvertisement distribution service 148 that can be implemented ascomputer-executable instructions, such as a software application, andexecuted by one or more processors to implement the various embodimentsdescribed herein. Alternatively or in addition, the advertisementdistribution service 148 may be implemented as an independent serviceseparate from the content service. In embodiments, the advertisementdistribution service is implemented to manage the distribution ofadvertisements 150 along with the television content to the variousclient devices 104. The advertisements may be targeted localadvertisements that correspond to the current location of a particularclient device and/or the advertisements are targeted localadvertisements that correspond to an advertising locale, which includesthe current location of the client device.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system 200 in which various embodiments ofcurrent device location advertisement distribution can be implemented.The example system 200 includes the mobile network operator 102,communication network 108, and examples of wireless distribution pointsas described with reference to FIG. 1. As described above, the mobilenetwork operator can receive television content (e.g., the media assets126) from the content service 106, along with national and/or localadvertisements 150. Local advertisements are generally directed toclient devices that receive television content within a designatedregion or geographic area, and are intended to reach potential consumersof goods and services within the designated local region or geographicarea, referred to herein as an advertising locale.

The mobile network operator 102 can then communicate the televisioncontent along with the advertisements to a client device via a wirelessdistribution point. For example, a client device 202 is located in ageographic region 204 that is covered for wireless communication withthe mobile network operator by at least the wireless distribution point206. The geographic region that is associated with the client device maybe based on a service contract with a user of the client device, or abilling zip code associated with the user of the client device. However,if the client device is moved at 208 from one advertising locale toanother, such as from the geographic region 204 to a differentadvertising locale 210, the local advertisements that correspond to thegeographic region associated with the client device are likely notuseful to a user of the device in the different advertising locale. Forexample, a business person may travel from his or her home city to acity in another state. While viewing television content on the clientdevice 202, targeted local advertisements can be received thatcorrespond to the current location and/or advertising locale of theclient device, rather than advertisements that are local to the person'shome city.

In the example system 200, the client device 202 has a current locationwithin advertising locale 210, which is covered for wirelesscommunication with the mobile network operator 102 by at least thewireless distribution point 212. As described with reference to FIG. 1,a proxy cache 214 is located at the wireless distribution point to cachethe content data 216 of the television content prior to the cachedcontent data being wirelessly communicated to the client device 202. Inthis example, the proxy cache can also cache advertisement data 218 ofthe advertisements that correspond to the advertising locale 210 fordistribution to the client device along with the television content.

The mobile network operator 102 includes a device location service 220that can be implemented as computer-executable instructions, such as asoftware application, and executed by one or more processors toimplement the various embodiments described herein. Alternatively or inaddition, the device location service may be implemented as anindependent service separate from the mobile network operator. Inembodiments, the device location service is implemented to determinethat a current location of the client device 202 is not within thegeographic region 204 that is associated with the client device. Thedevice location service can then also determine the advertising locale210 that includes the current location of the client device, and/orupdate the advertising locales as the client device is moved from oneregion to another.

The device location service 220 at the mobile network operator 102 candetermine the current location of the client device 202 from locationdata 222 that identifies the current location of the device. Thelocation data can include GPS location data 224 and/or regional positiondata 226 that correlates to the current location of the client device.The regional position data can indicate the current location of theclient device based on communications via cellular towers (e.g., thewireless distribution points) or other network communication equipmentthat has a known location relative to an approximate location of thedevice. The location of a mobile phone or portable computer, forexample, can be monitored for a change in location, such as from oneadvertising locale to another.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example system 300 that includes a example clientdevice 104 as described with reference to FIG. 1. The example system 300enables ubiquitous environments for a seamless user experience whenusing any type of computer, television, and/or mobile device. Servicesand applications run substantially similar in all environments for acommon user experience when transitioning from one device to the nextwhile utilizing an application, playing a video game, watching a videoand television content, listening to music, and so on.

In the example system 300, multiple devices can be interconnectedthrough a central computing device or system, which may be local to themultiple devices or may be located remotely from the multiple devices.In one embodiment, the central computing device may be a cloud of one ormore server computers that are connected to the multiple devices througha network, the Internet, or other data communication link. Inembodiments, this interconnection architecture enables functionalityacross multiple devices to provide a common and seamless experience to auser of the multiple devices. Each of the devices may have differentphysical configurations and capabilities, and the central computingdevice uses a platform to enable delivery of an experience that is bothtailored to a particular device and yet common to all of the devices. Inembodiments, a class of target devices is created and user experiencesare tailored to the generic class of devices. A class of devices may bedefined by physical features, types of usage, or other commoncharacteristics of the devices.

In various implementations, the client device 104 may be implemented ina variety of different configurations, such as for computer 302, mobile304, and television 306 uses. Each of these configurations includesdevices that may have generally different constructs and capabilities,and the client device may be configured according to one or more of thedifferent device classes. For example, the client device may beimplemented as any type of a personal computer, desktop computer, amulti-screen computer, laptop computer, tablet, netbook, and so on.

The client device 104 may also be implemented as any type of mobiledevice, such as a mobile phone, portable music player, portable gamingdevice, a tablet computer, a multi-screen computer, and so on. Theclient device may also be implemented as any type of television devicehaving or connected to generally larger display screens in casualviewing environments. These devices include televisions, set-top boxes,gaming consoles, and so on. The techniques described herein may besupported by these various configurations of the client device and arenot limited to the specific examples of the embodiments describedherein.

The cloud 308 includes and/or is representative of a platform 310 fornetwork access services 312. The platform abstracts underlyingfunctionality of hardware, such as server devices, and/or softwareresources of the cloud. The network access services may includeapplications and/or data that can be utilized while computer processingis executed on servers that are remote from the client device. Forexample, the network access services may include the content service106, the proxy service 130, the advertisement distribution service 148,and/or the device location service 220 as described with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. The network access services 312 can be provided as aservice over the Internet and/or through a subscriber network, such as acellular or WiFi network.

Example methods 400, 500, and 600 are described with reference torespective FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 in accordance with one or more embodimentsof wireless distribution system proxy caches and current device locationadvertisement distribution. Generally, any of the functions, methods,procedures, components, and modules described herein can be implementedusing software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manualprocessing, or any combination thereof. A software implementationrepresents program code that performs specified tasks when executed by acomputer processor. The example methods may be described in the generalcontext of computer-executable instructions, which can include software,applications, routines, programs, objects, components, data structures,procedures, modules, functions, and the like. The program code can bestored in one or more computer-readable memory devices, both localand/or remote to a computer processor. The methods may also be practicedin a distributed computing environment by multiple computer devices.Further, the features described herein are platform-independent and canbe implemented on a variety of computing platforms having a variety ofprocessors.

FIG. 4 illustrates example method(s) 400 of wireless distribution systemproxy caches. The order in which the method blocks are described are notintended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of thedescribed method blocks can be combined in any order to implement amethod, or an alternate method.

At block 402, requests for television content are received from one ormore client devices at a mobile network operator. For example, the proxyservice 130 (FIG. 1) at the mobile network operator 102 receivesrequests for television content from one or more of the client devices104. Alternatively or in addition, the server device 140 at the wirelessdistribution point 142 includes the proxy service 146 that receivesrequests for the television content from one or more of the clientdevices.

At block 404, one of the requests is communicated to a content servicethat provides the television content to the mobile network operator fordistribution to the client devices. For example, the proxy service 130initiates the mobile network operator 102 to communicate one of therequests from the client devices (as opposed to all of the requests) tothe content service 106 that provides the television content (e.g., themedia assets 126) to the mobile network operator for distribution to theclient devices.

At block 406, the television content is received via the Internet fromthe content service as video fragments of the television content. Forexample, the mobile network operator 102 receives content data 138 ofthe television content as video fragments from the content service 106via the Internet (e.g., via the communication network 108). The videofragments of the television content can be packetized for smoothstreaming at the content service.

At block 408, content data of the television content is cached at one ormore wireless distribution points of the mobile network operator. Forexample, the proxy cache 134 at the wireless distribution point 136caches the content data 138 of the television content prior to thecached content data being wirelessly communicated to the client devices104. In embodiments, the content data of the television content iscached with HTTP proxy caches when the content data is received via theInternet. Additionally, the content data is cached at a proxy cache thatis located at a wireless distribution point that has a wirelesscommunication link with a client device that requested the televisioncontent.

At block 410, the cached content data of the television content iscommunicated to the client devices via wireless communication from thewireless distribution points. For example, the wireless distributionpoint 136 of the mobile network operator 102 communicates the cachedcontent data 138 of the television content from the proxy cache 134 tothe client devices 104. In this manner, the wireless distribution pointemulates television multicast when the cached content data of thetelevision content is communicated from the proxy cache to multipleclient devices.

At block 412, additional content data for additional television contentis received before a request for the additional television content isreceived from a client device. At block 414, the additional content datais cached at the one or more wireless distribution points of the mobilenetwork operator. For example, the mobile network operator 102 receivescontent data for additional television content from the content service106 before a request for the additional television content is receivedfrom a client device. The proxy caches 134, 144 can then cache thecontent data prior to the additional television content being requestedand wirelessly communicated to the client devices.

FIG. 5 illustrates example method(s) 500 of current device locationadvertisement distribution, and is described with reference to a mobilenetwork operator. The order in which the method blocks are described arenot intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of thedescribed method blocks can be combined in any order to implement amethod, or an alternate method.

At block 502, television content and advertisements are received from acontent service for distribution to a client device via a wirelessdistribution point. For example, the mobile network operator 102(FIG. 1) receives television content (e.g., the media assets 126) fromthe content service 106, along with national and/or local advertisements150. The television content can include local advertisements thatcorrespond to a geographic region associated with the client device.

At block 504, location data is received that identifies a currentlocation of the client device. For example, the device location service220 (FIG. 2) at the mobile network operator 102 receives the locationdata 222 from the client device 202, and the location data identifiesthe current location of the device. The location data can include GPSlocation data 224 and/or regional position data 226 that correlates tothe current location of the client device. The regional position datacan indicate the current location of the client device based oncommunications via cellular towers (e.g., the wireless distributionpoints) or other network communication equipment that has a knownlocation relative to an approximate location of the device.

At block 506, a determination is made as to whether the client device islocated within a geographic region that is associated with the device.For example, the client device 202 may be located within the geographicregion 204 that is associated with the device. The geographic regionthat is associated with the client device may be based on a servicecontract with a user of the client device, and/or a billing zip codeassociated with the user of the client device. If the current locationof the client device is not within the geographic region that isassociated with the client device (i.e., “no” from block 506), then atblock 508, an advertising locale that includes the current location ofthe client device is determined. For example, the device locationservice 220 determines that the current location of the client device202 is within the advertising locale 210.

If the current location of the client device is within the geographicregion (also an advertising locale) that is associated with the clientdevice (i.e., “yes” from block 506), or continuing from block 508, thenat block 510, the television content is updated with advertisements thatcorrespond to the advertising locale, which includes the currentlocation of the client device. For example, the television content isupdated with targeted local advertisements that correspond to thecurrent location and/or the advertising locale of the client device.

At block 512, the television content along with the advertisements iscommunicated to the client device at the current location of the clientdevice. For example, the wireless distribution point 212 of the mobilenetwork operator 102 communicates the television content (e.g., thecached content data 216) along with targeted local advertisements (e.g.,the advertisement data 218) to the client device at the current locationwithin the advertising locale 210. At block 514, the advertising localefor the client device is updated as the client device is moved from oneregion to another. For example, the device location service 220 updatesthe advertising locales as the client device is moved from one region toanother.

FIG. 6 illustrates example method(s) 600 of current device locationadvertisement distribution, and is described with reference to a contentservice. The order in which the method blocks are described are notintended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of thedescribed method blocks can be combined in any order to implement amethod, or an alternate method.

At block 602, a request for television content is received from a mobilenetwork operator that communicates the television content to a clientdevice via a wireless distribution point. For example, the contentservice 106 (FIG. 1) receives a request for television content (e.g.,media assets 126) from the mobile network operator 102 that thencommunicates the television content to a client device 104 via awireless distribution point 132. At block 604, location data is receivedthat identifies a current location of the client device. For example,the content service 106 receives the location data 222 (FIG. 2) from theclient device, and the location data identifies the current location ofthe device. The location data can include GPS location data 224 and/orregional position data 226 that correlates to the current location ofthe client device.

At block 606, an advertising locale is determined that includes thecurrent location of the client device. For example, the advertisementdistribution service 148 at the content service 106 determines that thecurrent location of the client device 202 is within the advertisinglocale 210. At block 608, the television content is updated to includeadvertisements that correspond to the advertising locale. For example,the advertisement distribution service 148 at the content service 106updates television content to include targeted local advertisements thatcorrespond to the current location and/or advertising locale of theclient device.

At block 610, the television content is distributed to the mobilenetwork operator for communication to the client device along with theadvertisements that correspond to the advertising locale. For example,the content service 106 distributes the television content (e.g., mediaassets 126) along with the advertisements 150 to the mobile networkoperator 102 for wireless communication to the client device. At block612, the advertising locale for the client device is updated as theclient device is moved from one region to another. For example, theadvertisement distribution service 148 continues to receive locationdata that identifies a current location of the client device (e.g., atblock 604), and updates the advertising locale that includes the currentlocation of the client device (e.g., at block 606).

FIG. 7 illustrates various components of an example device 700 that canbe implemented as any of the devices, or services implemented bydevices, described with reference to the previous FIGS. 1-6. Inembodiments, the device may be implemented as any one or combination ofa fixed or mobile device, in any form of a consumer, computer, server,portable, user, communication, phone, navigation, television, appliance,gaming, media playback, and/or electronic device. The device may also beassociated with a user (i.e., a person) and/or an entity that operatesthe device such that a device describes logical devices that includeusers, software, firmware, hardware, and/or a combination of devices.

The device 700 includes communication devices 702 that enable wiredand/or wireless communication of device data 704, such as received data,data that is being received, data scheduled for broadcast, data packetsof the data, etc. The device data or other device content can includeconfiguration settings of the device, media content stored on thedevice, and/or information associated with a user of the device. Mediacontent stored on the device can include any type of audio, video,and/or image data. The device includes one or more data inputs 706 viawhich any type of data, media content, and/or inputs can be received,such as user-selectable inputs, messages, communications, music,television content, recorded video content, and any other type of audio,video, and/or image data received from any content and/or data source.

The device 700 also includes communication interfaces 708, such as anyone or more of a serial, parallel, network, or wireless interface. Thecommunication interfaces provide a connection and/or communication linksbetween the device and a communication network by which otherelectronic, computing, and communication devices communicate data withthe device.

The device 700 includes one or more processors 710 (e.g., any ofmicroprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process variouscomputer-executable instructions to control the operation of the device.Alternatively or in addition, the device can be implemented with any oneor combination of software, hardware, firmware, or fixed logic circuitrythat is implemented in connection with processing and control circuitswhich are generally identified at 712. Although not shown, the devicecan include a system bus or data transfer system that couples thevarious components within the device. A system bus can include any oneor combination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus ormemory controller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or aprocessor or local bus that utilizes any of a variety of busarchitectures.

The device 700 also includes one or more memory devices (e.g.,computer-readable storage media) 714 that enable data storage, such asrandom access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory(ROM), flash memory, etc.), and a disk storage device. A disk storagedevice may be implemented as any type of magnetic or optical storagedevice, such as a hard disk drive, a recordable and/or rewriteable disc,and the like. The device may also include a mass storage media device.In embodiments, the a memory device 714 can be implemented as a proxycache 716.

Computer readable media can be any available medium or media that isaccessed by a computing device. By way of example, and not limitation,computer readable media may comprise storage media and communicationmedia. Storage media include volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Storage media include, but are notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to storeinformation and which can be accessed by a computer.

Communication media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated datasignal, such as carrier wave or other transport mechanism. Communicationmedia also include any information delivery media. The term modulateddata signal means a signal that has one or more of its characteristicsset or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wiredmedia such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wirelessmedia such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

A memory device 714 provides data storage mechanisms to store the devicedata 704, other types of information and/or data, and various deviceapplications 718. For example, an operating system 720 can be maintainedas a software application with a memory device and executed on theprocessors. The device applications may also include a device manager,such as any form of a control application, software application, signalprocessing and control module, code that is native to a particulardevice, a hardware abstraction layer for a particular device, and so on.In this example, applications include a proxy service 722 and a devicelocation service 724, such as when device 700 is implemented as a mobilenetwork operator or server device. The applications also include anadvertisement distribution service 726, such as when device 700 isimplemented as a content service. The services are shown as softwaremodules and/or computer applications. Alternatively or in addition, theservices can be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, fixedlogic, or any combination thereof.

The device 700 also includes an audio and/or video processing system 728that generates audio data for an audio system 730 and/or generatesdisplay data for a display system 732. The audio system and/or thedisplay system may include any devices that process, display, and/orotherwise render audio, video, display, and/or image data. Display dataand audio signals can be communicated to an audio device and/or to adisplay device via an RF (radio frequency) link, S-video link, compositevideo link, component video link, DVI (digital video interface), analogaudio connection, or other similar communication link. Inimplementations, the audio system and/or the display system are externalcomponents to the device. Alternatively, the audio system and/or thedisplay system are integrated components of the example device.

Although embodiments of current device location advertisementdistribution have been described in language specific to features and/ormethods, the subject of the appended claims is not necessarily limitedto the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specificfeatures and methods are disclosed as example implementations of currentdevice location advertisement distribution.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a client deviceconfigured to receive media content via a wireless distribution point; adevice location service configured to: determine that a current locationof the client device is not within a geographic region associated withthe client device, the current location based on location data receivedvia wireless data communication that identifies the current location ofthe client device; and determine an advertising locale that includes thecurrent location of the client device for distribution of the mediacontent to the client device along with advertisements that correspondto the advertising locale.
 2. A system as recited in claim 1, whereinthe geographic region that is associated with the client device is basedon at least one of a service contract with a user of the client deviceor a billing zip code associated with the user of the client device. 3.A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the location data comprises atleast one of GPS location data or regional position data that correlatesto the current location of the client device.
 4. A system as recited inclaim 1, wherein the advertisements are targeted local advertisementscorresponding to the current location of the client device.
 5. A systemas recited in claim 1, wherein the advertisements are targeted localadvertisements corresponding to the advertising locale that includes thecurrent location of the client device.
 6. A system as recited in claim1, wherein the device location service is further configured to updatethe media content with the advertisements that correspond to theadvertising locale.
 7. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein thedevice location service is further configured to update the advertisinglocale for the client device as the client device is moved from oneregion to another.
 8. A method, comprising: receiving media content fordistribution to a client device via a wireless distribution point;determining that a current location of the client device is not within ageographic region associated with the client device, the currentlocation based on location data received via wireless data communicationthat identifies the current location of the client device; anddetermining an advertising locale that includes the current location ofthe client device for distribution of the media content to the clientdevice along with advertisements that correspond to the advertisinglocale.
 9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the geographic regionthat is associated with the client device is based on at least one of aservice contract with a user of the client device or a billing zip codeassociated with the user of the client device.
 10. A method as recitedin claim 8, wherein the location data that identifies the currentlocation of the client device comprises at least one of GPS locationdata or regional position data that correlates to the current locationof the client device.
 11. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein themedia content is updated with the advertisements that are targeted localadvertisements corresponding to the current location of the clientdevice.
 12. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the media content isupdated with the advertisements that are targeted local advertisementscorresponding to the advertising locale that includes the currentlocation of the client device.
 13. A method as recited in claim 8,further comprising caching the received media content prior tocommunicating the media content along with the advertisements to theclient device.
 14. A method as recited in claim 8, further comprisingupdating the advertising locale for the client device as the clientdevice is moved from one region to another.
 15. A content service,comprising: a content server configured to distribute media content to amobile network operator that communicates the media content to a clientdevice via a wireless distribution point; a processor and memory toimplement an advertisement distribution service configured to: receivelocation data that identifies a current location of the client device asbeing not within a geographic region associated with the client device;determine an advertising locale that includes the current location ofthe client device for distribution of the media content; and update themedia content to include advertisements that correspond to theadvertising locale.
 16. A content service as recited in claim 15,wherein the location data that identifies the current location of theclient device comprises at least one of GPS location data or regionalposition data that correlates to the current location of the clientdevice.
 17. A content service as recited in claim 15, wherein theadvertisements are targeted local advertisements corresponding to thecurrent location of the client device.
 18. A content service as recitedin claim 15, wherein the advertisements are targeted localadvertisements corresponding to the advertising locale that includes thecurrent location of the client device.
 19. A content service as recitedin claim 15, wherein the media content is cached at the wirelessdistribution point prior to being communicated to the client device. 20.A content service as recited in claim 15, wherein the advertisementdistribution service is further configured to update the advertisinglocale for the client device as the client device is moved from oneregion to another.